Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Ok, we've all been there, right? You start reading a series of books, and you just fall in love. The author does everything (or nearly everything) right, and you can't wait to get your hands on the next installment. So, you sit impatiently counting down the days until your next sure to be favorite book is released. You get to the store, wait in line with the other nut-jobs who love the series as much as you do, go buy an overpriced iced coffee so you can sit in the cafe and read because you certainly can't wait the 8 minutes it'll take you to drive home to start this wonderful, fantastic, amazing book you've been eagerly anticipating, and then....eh. Apparently that's what a pretty sizable group of people are lamenting about Stephanie Meyer's Breaking Dawn.

So, what would any sane biblio enthusiasts do in said situation? Well, according to the message boards over at Amazon, they'd return the book. Yep, you heard me. Well, at least some of them. There's actually an even more disappointed sect that's determined to burn their copies, but I'm not even going to go there - I don't have the time or the inclination to deal with that kind of crazy.

I'm not saying I'm unsympathetic to the plight. I've been let down by authors before. In my opinion, James Patterson has phoned in a few of his more recent Alex Cross novels, but do I stomp back to the store and demand a refund? Um, no. I don't buy the next book. And then I tell the world (or at least the few of you who actually read my blog) how I feel about my disappointment. And...well, that's it. I just don't know where the expectation comes from that if you start to experience a little buyer's remorse, you are entitled to return a book once you've read it.

So, maybe I'm wrong about this, but I feel like buying books is always somewhat of a gamble. You read reviews, you get recommendations from people you trust, you read a few pages while browsing the shelves, and you go with your gut. Sometimes, though, it just doesn't work out, and you end up selling your $30 hardback at a garage sale to some other unsuspecting reader for $1. If you're unhappy with this scenario, perhaps you'd be better off to get your books from your local library. But, be forewarned. If you burn a library book, you'll have to pay for it.

I read something or heard about this, but didn't believe it or thought it was overly exaggerated. Reading your post, my mouth fell open.

I am not going to go to the message board because I don't want it to give me any BREAKING DAWN spoilers. (My copy is on the way.)

I have asked for a refund because a book that was stated new wasn't and my money was returned. But that's not what you are talking about...to be honest, I didn't think you could do that. I mean, they read it. You can't use up the merchandise and then return it, can you? If that is how it works, then I could buy all my books from Amazon, read them and then return them. I'm really not okay with doing things like this.

I don't know how exaggerated it actually is, but if you read some of the posts on the message board (which I wouldn't suggest for you as there are a few spoilers), there are quite a few people who mention that they've already returned their copy. One person mentioned that the cashier at Borders told her she was the 15th person that day who had returned the book, and the next poster stated that when she returned her copy there was "quite a stack of them in the return pile." So, statistically, if you figure even just a dozen returns in the larger chain stores, that's got to add up.

There's actually a petition about it, too, with at this moment 791 signatures. What exactly they're wanting, I'm not so sure. I'm hoping the gang of book-burners was more exaggerated talk than anything else, though.